September 11, 2008

Wachtell Worked on Bailout Pro Bono

Update:

As the BLT reported yesterday, a 17-lawyer team from Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz took the lead on drafting Treasury’s bailout plan for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Partners Harold Novikoff and Edward Herlihy headed up the task. Novikoff says the final document was drafted during the past two-and-a-half weeks, and that the process included “endless term sheets, and almost endless drafts.”

And it turns out they did all that work on a pro bono basis. In an e-mail to Legal Times, Novikoff said Wachtell handled the work pro bono because “We believe the matter to be of supreme importance to the nation and the capital markets. Therefore, we were pleased and privileged to assist the United States Treasury.”